Maarten Van Severen

Belgium (1956–2005)

Born in Antwerp in 1956, Maarten Van Severen spent most of his career as a furni­ture maker. After attend­ing the Art Academy in Ghent to study archi­tec­ture, Van Severen made his first piece of furni­ture in 1986. A year later he devel­oped his own furni­ture work­shop in Ghent, combin­ing hand-produced work along with semi-indus­trial produc­tion. In 1990 Van Severen part­nered with Rem Kool­haas to work on the Villa dall’Ava outside of Paris. Design collab­o­ra­tions extended to light­ing design for Target in 1997, as well as furni­ture pieces for Vitra in 1996. Van Severen concen­trates his work on refin­ing the design of basic furni­ture pieces, the chair, the table, the chaise lounge, as well as shelv­ing and cabinetry.